Getting Down to Business – The Best and Worst States for Glass Industry Companies

It’s hard enough running a business. But in certain states, it may be even harder for those in the glazing industry than others. Texas and Florida are number one and two, respectively, in terms of the best states to do business, while New York and California round out numbers 49 and 50. This is according to surveys conducted with more than 500s CEOs across the U.S. and published in Chief Executive magazine. Recipients graded states on measures including tax and regulatory regime, the quality of the workforce and the quality of the living environment. USGNN.com™ talked to companies in these best and worst states to find out if they agree with these recent findings.

Julie Freund, sales manager at Texas-based Shower Doors of Houston, says “Business is booming” in the Lone Star State, adding that there’s a “feeling like there’s always going to be work to do.” That kind of mentality is what lifted Texas above the rest in the survey.

“… We don’t have a sales income tax, which is a positive, and the cost of living is low,” she says. “That certainly helps in terms of day-to-day operations. Real estate, leasing a building—things like that are more affordable.” Freund adds that the area’s always-growing medical community has resulted in “people constantly coming in from other parts of the country,” which leads to more construction. “There’s constant building around here,” she says.

Shower Doors of Houston office manager Ryan Emmons, a recent college graduate, adds that the positives regarding business in Texas is evident even among young job-seekers. “I did not begin working until two months after graduation,” he says. “To me, that was an unreal amount of time to wait for a job considering so many of my friends were already employed. I do count myself lucky, though, because I have a couple friends from New Jersey and Pennsylvania who are going on almost two years of job-seeking. All in all, I would say Texas is an excellent place for job-seekers, especially for young people like myself.”

Florida came in at number two and Tom Riscili, president and CEO, CGI Windows & Doors says there are many elements that combine to make Florida such a wonderful place to do business.

“First, the people: whether you’re looking for someone to work the manufacturing floor, or someone to complete a strong management team, Florida attracts all different kinds of people, greatly increasing your chances of finding the perfect hire,” he says. “Secondly, quality of life. Solid quality of life is expected by employees. The tax structure in Florida, combined with the geography, weather, and a good educational system, all combine to create a quality of life second to none.”

Alabama came in at number 17 and this was the recent state of choice for profine who opened a plant in Hunstville recently (not far from Tennessee which incidentally is number three on the list). “We picked this area as we had an opportunity to find competitive land, there was also a good skill level and knowledge from local personnel available to us,” says Robert Thiroff, profine International. “Huntsville also provides us with an excellent rail and road infrastructure for us to distribute our products throughout the U.S. From a production perspective the pvc producers are located very close which makes for an excellent supply point of view, and another consideration is the stable electricity supply which is a very important consideration.”

USGNN looked at the unemployment rates for the bottom 11 states in the survey, and four of them also came in the bottom 10 in terms of the highest unemployment rates: Michigan, California, Illinois and Rhode Island. On a side note, what’s particularly interesting in terms of unemployment is the state of Nevada, which came in at number eight on the best list but whose unemployment rate sits at 8.0 at number 50.

David Barnes, president at ViWinco, based in Morgantown, Pa., is surprised at his state’s bottom 10 ranking. “I don’t see challenges of doing business here,” he says. “I constantly get hit by states who want me to relocate. But we have a great workforce …. I am sure you can get cheaper taxes in other places. Because we were founded here I wouldn’t relocate my company based on taxes. This is what we live and breathe and where we grew up. A lot of manufacturers have left the area but I don’t have any intentions of leaving even if we are the worst.”

Peter Folsom, president of Panorama Windows in Bronx, N.Y., is also positive regarding his state’s number 49 ranking.

“Being in New York, and particularly New York City, there are probably more regulations than in most other parts of the country,” says Folsom. “That is probably because of the concentration of wealth. Wealthy populated areas that have been wealthy for a longer duration of time tend to develop rules and regulations to provide protection for and from the wealthy. This manifests itself in more stringent building codes, labor laws and societal rules and regulations (such as Landmarks Preservation restrictions). Being in a metropolitan environment increases the number of rules needed to abide by.”

But again, Folsom doesn’t let it bother him.

“Panorama Windows thinks of itself as being fortunate, however, to be in this environment because we focus on very high quality products and anticipating/creating ‘the next best thing.’ The myriad of rules such as those mandating sick pay, labor rights and rigorous Building Code and Landmark compliance helps to discourage cut-rate competition.”

As for California at number 50, Matt Power, CEO of LaCantina Doors in San Diego says simply, “It’s not that bad.” Yes, he says tax increases are pretty hefty and federal and state taxes are one of the biggest burdens. But there are positives as well.

“We enjoy doing business here,” he says. “We enjoy access to a great labor pool. We want high caliber employees and high caliber employees like living in California and San Diego specifically. We find being a door and window manufacturer in Southern California is a good place to be especially for our products.”

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